NORWOOD INCLUDING SOUTHALL

In 1961 the area of the civil parish of Norwood was
conterminous with that of the municipal borough of
Southall, (fn. 1) which is now part of the London Borough
of Ealing. (fn. 2) Before 1859, however, the whole area of
Norwood formed part of the ancient parish of Hayes,
being an ecclesiastically dependent chapelry called
the precinct of Norwood. (fn. 3) Norwood formed that
part of Hayes parish lying east of the Yeading Brook
and the Paddington Canal, and was bounded by
Heston on the south and Hanwell and Greenford to
the east and north respectively. In 1859 the precinct
was created a separate parish, thus formalizing the
distinction between Hayes and Norwood that had
been apparent from the Middle Ages. Because of this
de facto division between Hayes and Norwood it has
been found more convenient to present a separate
account of each area. In this article references to the
parish of Hayes concern that part of Hayes ancient
parish lying to the west of the Yeading Brook and
the Paddington (later the Grand Union) Canal.

In the 1860s Norwood covered an area of 2,461 a. (fn. 4)
On the western side the boundary ran south down
the Paddington Canal and the Yeading Brook. Turning eastward it followed the canal, Western Road,
and Clifton Road and, crossing the north end of
Osterley Park, ran through the lake to the Brent.
After turning north up the river it ran west across
former open fields, turning north again up the line
of the modern Allenby Road and finally west again
to the canal, just south of Ruislip Road. (fn. 5) In 1894 the
southern boundary of Norwood was altered to include that area of Heston which lay north of the
canal, (fn. 6) so that the southern boundary was formed by
the canal as far as Norwood Mill. This increased the
area of the civil parish to 2,545 a. Other minor
boundary changes involved the transfer of 30 a. to
Heston and Isleworth in 1934 and, in 1936, a gain of
one acre from Heston and Isleworth, 60 a. from
Ealing, and less than one acre from Hayes. (fn. 7) The
area administered by the Borough of Southall in 1961
was 2,608 a., (fn. 8) which covered approximately 2½ miles
from east to west and 3¼ miles from north to south.

The parish is predominantly flat and nowhere
rises to more than 50 feet above sea level. The soil in
the north is heavy London Clay, but south of Uxbridge Road light loam and gravel predominate. (fn. 9)
The parish is watered by the Yeading Brook on
the western boundary, and by the River Brent in the
east. A small stream also flows along part of the
southern boundary in Osterley Park, and drains
through the lake into the Brent. The Brent was
bridged before 1396, when the bridge was ruinous. (fn. 10)
In the 18th century repair of the bridge was said to
be the joint responsibility of the lord of the manor
and the Bishop of London as lord of the adjacent
manor of Hanwell. In 1762 the Uxbridge turnpike
trustees repaired it, and by 1815 the county had assumed responsibility. Batford Bridge, which crossed
the Yeading Brook between Hayes and Southall,
was widened in 1755 and rebuilt in 1800 by the
turnpike trustees. In 1826, however, repair was
charged to the lord of the manor. (fn. 11)

The early history of Norwood parish is inextricably connected with that of Hayes. (fn. 12) Although it was
not mentioned in 1086, the church, and presumably
the settlement, existed by the 12th century. (fn. 13) The
church stood in the centre of the southernmost part
of the parish, almost on the southern boundary.
Southall is mentioned in 1274, (fn. 14) and in 1384 the
names of 'Dormoteswell' (Dorman's Well) and
Northcott both occur in a court roll. (fn. 15) It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that all three of the later
hamlets of Norwood, i.e. Norwood, Southall, and
Northcott, were settled by the 14th century, and
probably much earlier. The exact position of the
hamlets is uncertain before the late 16th century,
when Northcott lay on the main Uxbridge road,
round the junction of South Road and High Street. (fn. 16)
Southall in the mid 17th century appears to have
been the area later known as Southall Green, centring
on King Street and the Green. (fn. 17) In 1573 Northcote
Field and Northcote Oaten Field are mentioned, (fn. 18)
and Southall Street is mentioned in 1580. (fn. 19) The
survey of Hayes, carried out between 1596 and 1598
for Roger, Lord North, the lord of the manor, although incomplete, includes part of Norwood. At
this date Northcott consisted of at least 14 houses
and 7 cottages, all situated on the south side of the
main road and surrounded by 45 a. of inclosures.
Further inclosures lying on the south side of the
main road amounted to 277 a. Another 242 a.
of inclosed land at Northcott had been owned
principally by Anne, Lady Dacre, the owner of
Dorman's Well, which therefore may have lain
on the north side of the road. Nothing, however,
is known of settlement on the north side of the road
at this date. Southall consisted of 19 houses, none of
which is described as a cottage, surrounded by 35 a.
of inclosed land. The chief property owners in
Southall were the Child family, Robert Millett, and
Francis Awsiter. There were four open fields around
Southall: South Field (229 a.), North Field (201 a.),
East Field (139 a.), and Middle Field (118 a.). (fn. 20) All
these presumably occupied the positions they held
in the 19th century, when all but East Field lay in
the area between the Yeading Brook and Southall
Green, with Uxbridge Road on the north. East
Field lay between Southall Green and Tentelow
Lane. (fn. 21) Southall manor-house, in 1961 the property
of the borough council and occupied by the public
health department, was built in 1587 and is the only
surviving ancient dwelling of importance in the
parish. (fn. 22)

A Norwood field is mentioned c. 1600, (fn. 23) but Norwood is again omitted from the survey compiled c.
1657. Northcott then consisted of 4 houses and 27
cottages, four of which were inns, (fn. 24) while Southall
comprised 12 houses and 10 cottages. A lane led
north from Northcott to Northolt, and other lanes
mentioned are Long Lane, leading to Southall, and
Butts Lane, Southall Lane, and Southall Street, all
in Southall. Northcote West Field (122 a.) and
Middle Field (95 a.) are both mentioned. The
Southall fields occupied almost the same acreage as
in 1598. On the north side of the main road were
over 116 a. of inclosures at Northcott, and further
north still Dorman's Well was entirely inclosed with
177 a. Wexleys and the Common Down provided
another 87 and 71 a. of inclosures. (fn. 25) At this date,
therefore, much of the east side of the parish was
inclosed, while the open fields lay to the west. Watermill Lane, passing through the parish from Greenford to Brentford, is mentioned in 1731, (fn. 26) but by
1754 it was called Windmill Lane (fn. 27) and by 1961 the
part in Norwood had been enlarged into the Greenford Road. The upper portion of it, however, was
still called Windmill Lane.

During the 18th century the names of the hamlets
seem to have changed gradually. In 1754, when the
first detailed map covering the parish was published,
Northcott formed the settlement on the north side
of Uxbridge Road around North Road and opposite
South Road; Southall was then said to compromise the
houses on the south side of the main road. There
was a large settlement round Southall Green, which
was not identified, and Norwood Road led only to
Norwood, which was grouped on and round Norwood Green and on the south side of Tentelow Lane.
This lane continued to Heston. North Road and
Dormer's Wells Lane were both in existence and
Allenby Road ran in its present position up the
eastern boundary. A lane in the approximate position of Cornwall Avenue led to Wexley, a large farm.
There were a few houses at Mount Pleasant, and on
the main road and east of Windmill Lane, which was
called Chivy Chase. The field pattern of the parish
was much the same as it was a century earlier, except
for East Field which ran from Havelock Road (a field
lane) across to Tentelow Lane. (fn. 28) By the end of the
18th century well over half the parish was arable,
and the names of the hamlets were becoming final.
There were 56 houses in Northcott alias Southall, 40
in Norwood village, and 33 in Southall Green. (fn. 29)
Norwood Lodge, a late-18th-century house in Tentelow Lane, survives from about this time.

The appearance of the parish was altered by the
cutting in 1796 of the Grand Junction Canal. This
ran through the southern part of Norwood, through
part of Heston, and then north-east between Norwood and Southall Green approximately parallel
with Tentelow Lane until it crossed Windmill Lane.
It turned east to the Brent, whose line it followed
south to the Thames. In 1801 the Paddington Canal
was opened. This left the Grand Junction Canal at
Bull's Bridge in Norwood, and ran northward
through the parish parallel to the Yeading Brook,
and formed, to the north, part of the western
boundary. Norwood was inclosed under the Hayes
Inclosure Act of 1809, but the award was not made
until 1814, when under 1,000 a. were inclosed.
Roads and settlements had altered very little at this
date. Norwood Road, then called Wolf Lane, had
been extended down to Norwood Green where it
joined Tentelow Lane (then called Duncot Lane),
leading to Heston. Western Road was a small unnamed field lane, leading off Southall Green Lane
(now King Street, the Green, and South Road), and
another small field lane, Templewood Lane, left
Tentelow Lane and ran along the line of Glade
Lane. There were 9 farm-houses in the parish, of
which one at Frogmore Green, next door to the
'Wolf', was named Manor Farm. (fn. 30) Almost all of the
eastern half of the parish was owned by the Earl of
Jersey, part of whose park of Osterley extended into
the southern portion of Norwood. Two other people,
Thomas Parker and John Brett, each owned about
150 a. There were several large houses, one of which
was Southall Park, owned by Lord Jersey. (fn. 31) By 1816
wharfs had appeared on the Grand Junction Canal
at the junction with the Paddington Canal at Bull's
Bridge. Grouped round the triangular Green at
Norwood were many 'respectable villas' of an 'ornamental character'. (fn. 32) By the 1960s a number of these
in Norwood Road and Tentelow Lane had been
replaced by modern buildings; those which survived included Vine Cottage in Tentelow Lane and,
in Norwood Green Road, an attached pair of tall
three-storied houses known as the Grange and
Friars Lawn. Norwood Hall, standing in extensive
grounds to the east of Friars Lawn, had been much
altered and enlarged in the late 19th century and in
1968 was in use by the Ealing Borough Council as
a horticultural institute. It is probable that all three
houses were built in 1813. (fn. 33) A few early-19thcentury houses of more modest character have survived at Frogmore Green. In 1821 there were only
four farms in Norwood, of which three, Southall
Lane, Dormer's or Dorman's Well, and Warren
farms, were owned by Lord Jersey. The fourth,
Waxlow Farm, (fn. 34) has provided the name for a modern
local telephone exchange. By 1834 the houses in the
parish were described as mainly labourers' cottages,
although labour itself was fairly scarce. (fn. 35)

In the 1830s coaches ran along the turnpike four
times a day between Holborn and Uxbridge, (fn. 36) but in
1839 Southall Station on the main G.W.R. line to
Slough and the west was opened. (fn. 37) The railway ran
through the southern portion of the parish, south of
Uxbridge Road. Its most prominent feature, the
Wharncliffe Viaduct, although in Norwood parish,
has been described in the account of Hanwell. (fn. 38)
A branch line from Southall to Brentford was
opened to goods in 1859 and to passengers in 1860;
passenger services were suspended from 1915 to
1920 and were finally withdrawn in 1942. (fn. 39) The
Brentford branch line was one of the last undertakings of I. K. Brunel, who caused three modes of
transport to intersect by carrying the railway under
the Grand Junction Canal at Windmill Bridge. (fn. 40)
During the 1850s brick-making licences frequently
included the right to erect labourers' cottages, (fn. 41) and
brick-making as an industry spread in the parish,
particularly round Southall, during the mid 19th
century. (fn. 42) At this time the parish was still predominantly agricultural, (fn. 43) and four farms still existed
in the 1860s. (fn. 44)

During the 19th century a feature of Norwood
parish was the number of lunatic asylums. The Hanwell Lunatic Asylum (now St. Bernard's Hospital) in
Uxbridge Road was opened in 1831 as a county
asylum to take 500 people, (fn. 45) under the superintendence of Dr. William Ellis, whose wife was the
matron. (fn. 46) Almost immediately the buildings were
found to be adequate only for 300 people and by
1833 extensive repairs had had to be undertaken. (fn. 47)
In fact repairs, extensions, and rebuilding were
carried out continually during the 19th century. (fn. 48)
Ellis resigned in 1838 after disagreement with the
governors. His successor, Dr. John Conolly, was the
first man in England to discontinue the use of all
restraining implements on a large scale. (fn. 49) When the
hospital was handed over to the London County
Council in 1888 under the Local Government Act of
that year (fn. 50) it contained 1,891 patients. (fn. 51) Under the
1947 Health Act administration passed to the local
hospital board. In 1961 the buildings stood in 74 a.
and held approximately 2,200 patients. (fn. 52) The exterior is mainly of yellow brick; there is a high brick
wall along Uxbridge Road, where the main entrance
consists of an impressive arched gateway flanked by
single-story lodges. The earliest quadrangle, dating
from 1831, was originally two-storied and has roundheaded windows and a stone pediment. The third
floor and basement were opened later. The whole
range of buildings was, however, added to repeatedly
between 1831 and 1923 and there are also post-1945
additions on the western end of the property adjoining Windmill Lane. (fn. 53) Southall Park, the large house
lying just south of the main road and opposite
North Road, was owned by Lord Jersey and between
1809 and 1824 was occupied by Dr. John Collins,
who kept a school there for foreign Roman Catholic
boys. (fn. 54) By 1855 Southall Park had become a private
lunatic asylum, (fn. 55) which between 1861 and 1881 had
an average of 18 patients. (fn. 56) The house, a 'fine specimen of Queen Anne architecture', (fn. 57) was destroyed
by fire in 1883 killing Dr. Boyd, the superintendent,
his son William, and 4 patients. (fn. 58) Between 1861 and
1911 there were four other lunatic asylums, Vine
Cottage being one for over 30 years, and both the
Shrubbery and Featherstone Hall for over 20 years. (fn. 59)

During the later 19th century train services were
improved, (fn. 60) and in 1867 horse trams were run by
the Southall, Ealing, and Shepherd's Bush Tramway Co. (fn. 61) Electric trams, linking Southall with
Shepherd's Bush in 1901 and with Uxbridge in
1904, (fn. 62) were said to be directly responsible for an
increase in population. (fn. 63) Trolleybuses, which were
introduced in 1931, replaced trams on the main road
to Uxbridge in 1936. (fn. 64)

Suburban development started in the last decade
of the century. In 1890 there were 960 inhabited
houses in the parish and 32 empty ones; by 1894
there was none vacant and a demand for cottages was
anticipated owing to the building of a factory.
Southall Green was then the most densely populated
area. (fn. 65) Widespread development started in 1894, (fn. 66)
although in 1904. Southall was still said to have
'a few picturesque houses on the London Road'. (fn. 67) In
1914 the area immediately surrounding the Broadway, bounded on the south by Beaconsfield Road,
was built up, as was the area between North Road
and Dormer's Wells Lane. The Green and King
Street were both built up, (fn. 68) while a line of factories
had appeared along the railway. There was extensive
building south of Havelock Road, the extension of
a lane formerly known as Feder Lane, (fn. 69) but little in
Norwood apart from a terrace at Frogmore Green
and another nearly opposite the church on Tentelow
Lane. (fn. 70) By 1906 the parish was described as 'a manufacturing district'. (fn. 71)

After the First World War development proceeded more slowly, and during the 1920s and 1930s
the north-western corner of the parish was built up.
This covered Mount Pleasant, where over 700 houses
were built between 1926 and 1928, (fn. 72) and the Allenby
Road area. By 1940 the area around Lady Margaret
Road and between Somerset and Hillside roads was
also built up. In Southall Green. Hillary Road and
the east end of Havelock Road were developed, and
there was also much building immediately north of
Norwood Green. (fn. 73) By 1939 the local authority had
erected 1,119 houses, and between 1945 and 1958
another 1,003 permanent dwellings were built. (fn. 74) In
1944 the overcrowding and congestion of Southall
was described as 'acute' and no more industrial
development was recommended. (fn. 75) Another industrial site was planned in 1951. Redevelopment was
needed by 1951 for the area west of King Street and
north of Western Road, principally for residential
purposes and to provide open spaces. (fn. 76) Industry was
almost wholly concentrated around Southall and
Southall Green, while Norwood Green remained
a comparatively open space, with Osterley Park
extending on its eastern side. North of Uxbridge
Road and east of Dormer's Wells Lane the course of
the West Middlesex Golf Club was laid out in
1890. (fn. 77)

There are references to four inns at Northcott in
the mid 17th century: the 'Harrow', the 'Walnut
Tree', the 'Angel', and the 'Red Lion'. (fn. 78) The 'Angel'
still stood in 1715, (fn. 79) while there has been a 'Red
Lion' in Northcott or Southall ever since. The
'Plough' is probably the oldest inn in Norwood and
incorporates a timber-framed building of the 17th
century or earlier. There were eight inns in the
parish in 1821. (fn. 80) In 1899 there is a reference to
a house at Southall Green which was once called the
'Plough', afterwards the 'King's Head', and finally
the 'King of Prussia', which was its name in 1814. (fn. 81)

Before the mid 16th century no population figures
are available for Norwood and Southall, as these
were included under the manor of Hayes. (fn. 82) In 1547
there were 140 communicants in the precinct of Norwood, (fn. 83) and 137 adult males took the protestation
oath in 1642. (fn. 84) In 1653 the poor-rate was assessed on
59 people in Norwood. (fn. 85) Eleven years later 54 houses
were charged to hearth tax and 38 were exempted. (fn. 86)
In 1673 the poor-rate was levied on 32 people at
Norwood and on 24 each at Northcott and Southall, (fn. 87)
while hearth tax was rated on 40 houses at Norwood,
29 at Northcott, and 27 at Southall. (fn. 88) In 1801 the
population numbered 697. During the remainder of
the century the numbers rose steadily. The increase
from 1,320 people in 1831 to 2,385 in 1841 is attributable in part to the opening of the Hanwell lunatic
asylum, since by 1841 it contained 1,005 inmates. An
increase in the population of nearly 2,000 between
1851 and 1861 was partly caused by the establishment of the St. Marylebone parochial school, (fn. 89) and
later increases followed the enlargement of the asylum and the spread of brick-making. The sudden rise
from 7,896 in 1881 to 13,200 in 1901 was said to be
a direct result of the opening of tramways along
Uxbridge Road. During the earlier 20th century
industrial development caused the population to
leap upwards to 30,165 in 1921 and to 55,896 by
1951, although in 1961 it had fallen to 52,983. (fn. 90)
Unlike many Middlesex councils, Southall Borough
in 1948 reckoned that insured workers accounted for
as much as 42.7 per cent. of its population. (fn. 91)

Many Commonwealth immigrants have been attracted to Southall by its light industries. Sikhs, who
began to settle in 1953, (fn. 92) accounted for most of the
2,000 immigrants recorded in 1961. Their number
rose shortly before the enforcement of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act of 1962 and was afterwards
increased by arrivals from other parts of the United
Kingdom. (fn. 93) In 1963, when racial tension was causing
concern, it was thought that there were some 8,000
immigrants in Southall, (fn. 94) and by 1967 the Sikh
community was estimated to number about 10,000. (fn. 95)

Norwood and Southall have had few well-known
residents, apart from those mentioned elsewhere in
this article. William Leybourn, the 17th-century
mathematician and compiler of the earliest English
ready-reckoner, settled at Northcott; (fn. 96) Josiah Wedgwood is said to have owned Norwood Court; (fn. 97) and
the artist and book illustrator Henry Rountree, who
died in 1950, lived for a time in Southall. (fn. 98)

Footnotes

1. This article was written in 1961; any references to a
later time are dated.